During the construction of structures having wooden elements, many occasions arise whereby boards or other wooden elements must be positioned adjacent another board before attachment to an underlying support such as a beam, rafter or joist. In addition, in several instances, the boards must be tightly pressed against the adjacent board before attachment to the underlying support. For example, when constructing roofing, plywood must be attached to the roofing rafter, and the local building codes may require that the edges of the plywood be tongued and grooved and that adjacent plywood pieces be forced together so that the tongue makes a close joint with the groove on the adjacent board.
The usual manner of forcing adjacent boards together before attachment is to lay the unattached board next to a board which has been previously attached to the underlying support. The unattached board is then forced into firm engagement with the adjacent board typically by striking an exposed edge of the board or plywood, opposite the edge being forced into firm engagement, with a sledge hammer or maul. After the board has been forced into firm engagement, the board must be maintained in that position until nails or other attachment elements can be driven into the board to attach it to the underlying support.
This method of forcing the board into firm engagement and maintaining that position has several drawbacks. One drawback is that striking the edge of the board may damage the edge which in the case of boards which will be visible, such as patio decks, causes the edges to be scarred and unsightly. Also, the force generated by striking the edge of the board being attached is transmitted through to the boards previously attached and may damage the edges of the previously attached boards. More significantly, the cumulative effects of the forces transmitted to an earlier attached board by the striking of a number of later attached boards may cause significant damage to the earlier attached board.
Another drawback of this method is that the maintaining of the board in the firm engagement position until attachment can be made typically requires the task to be employed with two people, one to maintain the board in the firm engagement position and the other to nail the board to the underlying support.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a device which may force a board into firm engagement with an adjacent board.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a device which maintains a board in firm engagement with an adjacent board to allow attachment of the board to an underlying support.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a device which presses a board into firm engagement with an adjacent board without significantly damaging the edge of the board.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a device which can be operated by one person to press a board into firm engagement with an adjacent board, and maintain that board in firm engagement until attachment to an underlying support can be made.